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In recent days, the Museum of Fine Arts in Houston has rehung a painting called Kitchen Maid (c. 1620) with a new label, “attributed to Velazquez.” The work used to hang in its decorative arts ... read more

The twenty-second episode of Three on the Aisle, the twice-monthly podcast in which Peter Marks, Elisabeth Vincentelli, and I talk about theater in America, is now available on line for listening or downloading. Here’s an ... read more

Titus Techera, who hosts a podcast for the American Cinema Foundation on which he and his guests discuss important films of the past and present, invited me back to talk about Billy Wilder’s Double Indemnity ... read more

“Symphony of Swing,” a 1939 Warner Bros. short starring Artie Shaw and His Orchestra and directed by Joseph Henabery. Also featured are Helen Forrest and Tony Pastor, Shaw’s vocalists. The songs performed in the film ... read more

“One of the essential features of madness is psychic exposure. A mad person sheds the thin layer that ordinarily masks the chaos of inner life from the outside observer. He walks in the world stripped ... read more

This Week’s Insights: How the internet killed a popular restaurant… Why YouTube videos are getting longer… How social media feedback has ruined feedback… How crowdfunding new bathrooms builds audience. When Popularity Becomes Fatal: Everyone ... read more

What are the keys to success in the art world? Some combination of hard work, smart early career choices, artistic talent, access to the connected and the gate-keepers, and a bit of serendipity. The same ... read more

In today’s Wall Street Journal I review two new issue-driven New York shows, The Prom and Natural Shocks. Here’s an excerpt. * * * In the wake of the midterm elections, the pollsters are telling ... read more

“It is a medium of entertainment which permits millions of people to listen to the same joke at the same time, and yet remain lonesome.” T.S. Eliot (quoted in the New York Post, September 22, ... read more

In this week’s Wall Street Journal “Sightings” column, I report on “Callas in Concert: The Hologram Tour,” which I saw last week in Connecticut. Here’s an excerpt. * * * Maria Callas gave a concert ... read more

Here’s my list of recommended Broadway, off-Broadway, and out-of-town shows, updated weekly. In all cases, I gave these shows favorable reviews (if sometimes qualifiedly so) in The Wall Street Journal when they opened. For more ... read more

“What the mass media offers is not popular art, but entertainment which is intended to be consumed like food, forgotten, and replaced by a new dish. This is bad for everyone; the majority lose all ... read more

In my Wall Street Journal review of the 2007 opening of the expanded Seattle Art Museum, I noted that SAM’s campaign to “augment its permanent collection, in time for its 75th anniversary next year,” had ... read more

Arthur Rubinstein plays Chopin’s A Flat Polonaise, Op. 53, on Producers’ Showcase: Festival of Music. He is introduced by Charles Laughton. The director was Kirk Browning. This performance was originally telecast by NBC on January ... read more